It's the stuff of epic Aussie birthday parties - fairy bread.
A time when sliced white bread broke into the big time thanks to butter or margarine, covered (and we mean covered) with hundreds and thousands. Simple to make, bright, cheap and so much fun once hundreds and thousands enter the scene, it was usually quartered into triangles.
How it got its name is a little hazier and the first known 'fairy bread' reference was said to be written in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1885, while a 1929 article printed the term "fairy bread" in the Hobart Mercury which mentioned a party for child inmates as the article read, “The children will start their party with fairy bread and butter and 100’s and 1,000’s, and cakes, tarts, and home-made cakes…” However it came about, it certainly isn't going away anytime soon.
Who knew bread, butter and coloured sugar could conjure so much love, so much pride and so much passion. Some are overtly passionate about it, while others have been put back in their place for getting fairy bread wrong, very wrong (it is NEVER called fairy toast, never) and of course, somehow, someway, someone has orchestrated an entire day dedicated to this rainbow wonder - Fairy Bread Day embraced once a year on November 24th.
While it may not be a global phenomenon (it should be), we know as long as Aussie kids keep serving them up at birthday parties, fairy bread will continue its reign. And if social media is anything to go by, fairy bread is set to get even more playful and creative - from cocktails to knitted hats - bread and butter have never been more delightful.
The classic
Ahead of the game
Cupcake territory
Everything has ice cream potential
Rock your accessories
It plays so nicely with others
Celebrating Fairy Bread Day with fairy bread cake! Thank you Katherine Sabbath!
You’ll be delighted with this fluffier and rather less floppy version of my childhood favourite! Get this recipe here.
We're in loaf with these bikkies
Fairy bread cake... Source: Bake Australia Great by Katherine Sabbath
It's the killer party combination that always brings all the smiles. Get this party favour here.
Keep on scrollin'
Party staples Source: Adam Liaw
And if you're all about fairy bread, try Adam Liaw's chocolate smørrebrød, Denmark's chocolatey take on the fairy fave.
Or if you are team hundreds and thousand all the way, then Poh Ling Yeow's rainbow pinata cake is the birthday cake of your dreams.
Or perhaps Elise Strachan's edible ice cream bowls are calling for you!
Chocolate smørrebrød Source: Andy Baker
Source: China Squirrel
Chocolate sprinkle ice-cream bowls Source: Murdoch Books
